The long-standing chess tournament between Willow Springs and Draper elementaries not only teaches students how to play the game, but also gives them a chance to compete against students at their own level. (Lynnleah Smart/Willow Springs Elementary)

By
Julie Slama | julie@mycityjournals.com

Draper Elementary’s Gavin
Christensen had a smile on his face after winning the first match of the annual
Willow Springs-Draper chess tournament.

“My
brother Ethan helps me a lot,” he said. “He has a lot of trophies.”

Gavin — and his peers from both schools — compete against
each other in the tournament, playing students of similar ability. Both schools
play under a chess system developed by parents Scott and Sasha Johnson 11 years
ago, when they coached at Willow Springs.

The Johnsons started chess at
Willow Springs after searching for a regular chess club for their children and
not finding one with a meeting time that worked for their family. They came up
with a basic structure and curriculum based on input from parents running chess
programs at other schools, Sasha Johnson said in 2008.

The chess program, which continued
through the coaching hands of parent Karen Hunter before current Willow Springs
volunteer coaches Lynnleah and Rob Smart took over, is set up on levels, starting
from pawn, with each level being named after a chess piece. Pawn-level students
know each chess piece and how to move them, and then must pass a quiz before
they move on to high-level strategies and tactics, such as pin, skewer, fork
and how to checkmate with a king and rook or with a king and queen.

“Each level has tips and
worksheets so students are learning all about the game,” said Draper teacher
and coach Christina Van Dam, who brought the program to her school. “The
tournament here is unique as we match up our players at a certain level to
theirs, so our pawn players will play their pawn players all the way up to
king. This gives them someone new to play at their level and challenges all the
students.”

Lynnleah Smart said that often
former students — McKay Neyman, Aveia Smart and Eli Kimball — as well as those
who have become king-level players, such as fourth-grader Ian Felts and
fifth-grader Cody Hunter, help beginning players.

Recently, five other Willow
Springs students became kings: Jacob
Wilson, Chaz Neyman, Miles McAffee, Jacob Wilson and Steven Xia.

“There are so many cool things
about students learning chess, but we’re also seeing them help one another,
which is rewarding,” Lynnleah Smart said. “Some kids are coming just to help
others learn.”

She said they meet with about 78
kindergartners through fifth-graders on Friday mornings before school, which
helps them mentally prepare for the school day.

“These kids are a good group. They’re
waking up early to play chess. This gets them up and thinking. They’re wanting
to learn something hard in their spare time; they’re being creative and working
to improve and stretch their minds,” Lynnleah Smart said.

Fifth-grader Ben Street, who has
been playing for two years, was at the tournament. His dad, Will, taught him
how to play and was at the tournament to cheer him on.

“He is getting a little better by
better as he has learned the tactics,” Will Street said. “He’s a thinker and
coming to play chess in the morning has helped.”

Van Dam said she has two dads who
regularly help with her students when they meet, and sometimes two more
volunteer.

Gavin’s
dad, Dave, regularly helps and said that by thinking several moves ahead, it
helps students learn strategy.

“By thinking two, three, four,
five moves ahead, it improves their game so they can focus on capturing their
opponents’ pieces,” he said. “That helps them with thinking with math. It also
teaches them what it’s like to compete, do their best, how to win or lose
gracefully, be a good sport and make friends.”

Those
are some of the reasons Willow Springs parent Scottie Shull wants her
first-grade son, Lonnie, to learn chess.

“We want him to learn because it’s
a fun, social skill that transcends all age groups, so he could play with his
grandpa, cousin or anyone,” she said. “It’s a lot of mental strategy and that’s
a critical skill for him to learn. It’s also important that he’s building
friendships outside the classroom.”

For her son, who was there to
watch the tournament, the best part of chess is “to play it and beat my dad and
my mom.”

Tournament results at the king and
queen table were Gavin
Christensen, Draper, first; Cody Hunter, Willow Springs, second; Ian Felts, Willow Springs, third. On the rook table, the results are Jacob Laker, first; Isaac
Horstmann, second; Miles McAffee, third; all are from Willow Springs. In the bishop division,
first place went to Ben Street; second place was Sage Harmsen; and third, Avi
Lahoty; all students are from Willow Springs. In the knight division, Willow
Springs’ Benjamin Fuller placed first; his teammate Joe Covey took second; and
Draper Elementary’s Jag Anderson was third. Draper
Elementary swept the pawn division with Connor Call, first; Talmage Watson,
second; and Chris Johns, third.